Red Apple and Vivid Velvet
by Weaver the 8th
Summary: Maria's parents prayed it wasn't true, but their daughter ended up being a squib. Out of shame, and supposed mercy, they send their daughter to live in the muggle world with a squib named Ms. Gabbart. With her world crashing down around her Maria is left yearning to go back to the magical world. One day though, a strange white creature came to sit down for tea.
1. Left Behind

Through metal bars, past the window, the world looked gray with its rainy storm clouds blurring the world outside. The image of human like figures could be seen walking in front of the barred window, all hurrying away to their homes or work. Inside the playroom, with ivy green wallpaper, an eleven year old girl with long black hair sat before a small table with a plastic tea cup and pot, decorated with pale yellow flowers. Her hair cascaded down her face, obscuring her eyes as she sat morosely before the play set in front of her. As the rain pitter-pattered outside the room, she slowly lifted her head up and looked over at the room's doorway A girl that looked similar to her, but a few years older, stood in the doorway staring quietly at her. The older girl looked away apathetically and walked out into the hallway beyond.

"Thank you for taking her off our hands... I hope that you're prepared for taking care of a child. I'm not sure how you could live without any house-elves." A woman's voice echoed through the room, leading to the little girl to let her head drift back down.

An older woman's voice began to ring through out the room, in a far more cheerful tone then the woman speaking before. "No need to worry Mrs. Kaberline. Things aren't as archaic here as you might suspect. The muggle world has quite a few interesting things here. Like the telly, or those new things they've been making called Video Games. I actually rather enjoy those things."

"Of course Ms. Gabbart." the other woman's voice came out rather sympathetic sounding, like she was patting the older woman's head. "It's very commendable how you've made do in this magicless world. I'm sure that Maria will be very well behaved. She's such a brave girl... dealing with her..."

There was a soft mutter, which Maria couldn't hear. Her head lowered against the table though, and she choked down a sob from escaping her throat. Turning her eyes up to the table surface, which she was getting a good look at, she saw the shadows of people walk by without pause. While watching the shadows pass by, Maria began to raise her head off the table. Though the shadows continued on and on passing the table, she saw one shadow that remained stagnant; it looked like a cat sitting attentively. Quickly turning her head to the barred window she saw nothing there except the vague human shapes passing by it. Confounded Maria looked back to the table, which now only had the shadows passing over it again.

Maria kept looking down at the table, till the sound of someone clearing their throat reached her ears. Looking up to the doorway she saw Ms. Gabbart, with her oval glasses and frizzy white hair, solemnly looking at her. "Your... family will be heading off soon. Would you want to hurry off and wish them good bye?"

Maria looked down to her lap, and clenched her hands tightly. Getting up she walked, downcast, towards the door. Ms. Gabbart smiled reassuringly and walked Maria down towards a room where there was a sudden burst of green light. Maria looked up with a look of shock, her mouth dropping. She ran from Ms. Gabbart, who's own face looked horrified. Maria stopped at the entrance of the room and watched the coattails of her mother disappear into the chimney in a burst of green fire.

Ms. Gabbart hobbled over to the living room and looked over at the chimney with a look of disappointment, though the shock on her face had faded away already. Looking down to Maria she watched as the little girl's hands clenched onto the door frame so tightly she began to leave a groove in it thanks to her nails. Resting a hand on Maria's shoulder she sighed and shook her head. "It'll be all right... I know it hurts now. But things will get better." Ms. Gabbart watched Maria walk away to the playroom and shut the door. Nodding her head she walked down the hall to her own room. "Take all the time you need..."

The room grew darker and darker as Maria lay by the little table in the playroom. Her face covered by her hair as she slept quietly upon the floor. There was a blanket placed upon her, an old looking one with little blue roses stitched at the edges of it. The sound of rain continued on as it had earlier that day, drowning out the sound of soft footsteps that slinked over to the table. A strange white creature with red markings jumped on top of the table, and then crept over to the side Maria was on, without upsetting the toy cup or pot. Sitting down like the shadow from earlier it looked down at her with its tail twitching about.

Lightning suddenly crashed near by and caused Maria to wake with a start. Holding her chest, her heart pounded as she looked over at the window, the little creature having disappeared. The door to the play room swung open with Ms. Gabbart looking in panicked. "Are you all right?" Ms. Gabbart walked over to Maria and sat down beside her.

Maria nodded her head, though she was shaking a bit. "Yeah... the lightning just startled me is all." Running a hand through her hair she looked over to the window where she saw strange the white creature out in the rain. It's tail twitched about as it looked in at her with its red eyes. Blinking confusedly, Maria looked to Ms. Gabbart. "What kind of animal is that out the..." When Maria turned back to the window the creature had disappeared. "It's gone..."

Ms. Gabbart looked over to the window and cocked her head. Getting up slowly, she headed over to the window and peered past its bars out into the torrential rain outside. "What did it look like?"

"It was white... and it looked a bit like a cat." Maria then motioned to her ears than made a stretching motion. "It had cat ears, and I think floppy rabbit ears coming out of the cat ears. It also had red eyes... and some red markings on its fur."

Glowering out the window, Ms. Gabbart turned back to Maria and smiled warmly at her. "I've not heard of any such creatures in the muggle world, or even the wizarding one. No worries though dear. If it is from this place it should just be a regular animal. Now, why don't you run along to your room?" Nodding her head, Maria began to rub her eyes. Grabbing her blanket, she dragged it with her to her new room. Once Maria disappeared, Ms. Gabbart began to frown and looked back out into the rain.

Opening the door to the house, Ms. Gabbart looked to the street across from her, which had tightly packed house, just like her side of the street. While staring out into the rain she saw something sitting across from her. She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. Putting back on her glasses all she could see was an evanescence of a feline like figure.

Frowning she grabbed her umbrella, from the nearby rack, and headed out into the storm. With nothing but her slippers, nightgown, and raincoat, Ms. Gabbart walked over to the faded image and looked down at it. It stretched its back out like a cat, then began walking down the street as if nothing odd was going on. "What manner of creature are you?" Ms. Gabbart asked it as it continued stretching. It looked back at Ms. Gabbart with its illusive head, and then fell onto its back like a cat would. Ms. Gabbart couldn't help but smirk at the strange ghostly image as it rolled about as if for attention.

Once she entered back into the house, Ms. Gabbart headed back to her room, a feeling of content in her soul. As she headed down to her room, after hanging up her wet slippers in her bathroom, she fell into bed. Oblivious to the white creature that walked past her room. Its tail twitched about as it looked around the house. With its small paw it opened the play room to discover no one in it anymore. At the window was another creature like itself who quickly bounded away. With an unchanging expression, the strange creature continued to search around the house.

Pushing open a room with a smiling flower on its front, the creature peered in and saw Maria wrapped in her covers surrounded by stuffed animals of varying species and coloration. On padded feet, it crept over to the girl's bed and leapt in. Situating itself amongst her stuffed animals it sat waiting for an unknown reason. Maria gently breathing without any understanding of the intruder in her room. There was a quieter rumble from the sky, and all became silent in the house.


	2. A Conversation With A Stranger

″What is your wish?″ the words whispered throughout Maria's new room, the sounds hitting her gently. She began to fidget about in bed until she finally awoke upon hearing a deafening thunder clap. Looking out her bedroom window she saw that there was a heavy downpour going on outside. Crawling closer to the window she looked out it longingly. Breathing on the glass she fogged it up and began to draw a picture of a strange cat who had rabbit ears coming out of its regular ears. The thunder clapped again and a flash of light shot through the room. Sighing Maria began to lay back down, but let out a yelp upon seeing a cat rabbit in her room.

″Hello, its a pleasure to meet you Maria.″ The creature's tail swished, making a soft thump each time it hit the bed. ″You seem rather distraught. Not sure why. You seem to be a very interesting girl.″ The cat rabbit walked up to her and placed a paw upon her lap. ″You are like this old woman here, harboring a strange power in you. A power just waiting to be tapped into.″

″You... you mean I have magic?″ Maria clasped her hands together and began to cry a bit. ″Oh thank goodness, I thought... I thought for sure I was a squib. But wait... what about Ms. Gabbart... has she been pretending to be a squib?″

The cat rabbit shook its head solemnly. ″Oh my, I think you misunderstand me. You certainly have a power inside of you, but I wouldn't go so far as call it magic. You and this Ms. Gabbart have a power to perceive things that regular humans can not. I've seen it before, and I have yet to figure out why that is.″ The cat rabbit jumped off the bed and looked back at Maria. ″But it is interesting that you want magic.″

Maria crossed her arms and looked downcast away from the cat rabbit. ″Its not fair... I must be the first Squib in my family...″

″What do you mean by the term _squib?_″ The cat rabbit's ears perked up and turned to Maria. ″I've heard this phrase too. I assume it doesn't a miniature explosive device.″

″A... wha?″ Maria looked dumbfound at the strange creature and rubbed her head. ″N...no. It's a person born to wizards who doesn't have magical powers themselves.″

″Wizard?″ The cat rabbit's tail froze for a moment then returned seamlessly to its swishing about.

″That is rather interesting. Wizards, at least in the way you humans often think of them do not exist. Or so I've been led to believe.″ The cat rabbit jumped back onto the bed and stared right at Maria. ″Tell me... was that why your family has abandoned you?″

Maria's face contorted and she gripped a nearby pillow. ″They... its just because I don't have magic they don't want me to feel left out so-″

″They have you left out from the entire wizard thing?″ The cat rabbit shut his eyes and nodded his head. ″I can tell that you really want to be part of this world of wizarding, whatever that entails.″ He flashed his eyes at Maria and cocked his head. ″Perhaps I could help you obtain your heart's desire?″

″What? How could you do that?″ Maria hugged the pillow against her chest and glared at the cat rabbit. ″I don't even know what you are. Are you Ms. Gabbart's pet or something?″

The cat rabbit sighed and shook his head. ″Of course not. I'm Kubey.″ His tail twitched about and wrapped around his body. ″I can offer you a chance to have your wish granted, but in return you have to become a magical girl. As a magical girl it is your duty to defeat creatures known as witches.″

Upon hearing him say this Maria let out a gasp and hit Kyubey with her pillow. ″Why would I want to hurt other witches.″

Kyubey flopped onto the ground and quickly sat back up, shaking his head. ″I'm sorry. We seem to have conflicting terminologies. You see, from my perspective there are creatures born from curses which reside in the hearts of humans. These curses taint things and become beings that strive to sew discord in everyday human life. A witch is often the cause of suicides and murders with no motivation.″ Cocking his head he lifted his paws up as if to shrug.″Clearly what I know of as a witch is different from what you understand.″

Maria slowly nodded her head and sat back. ″I know witches are like me, and everyone else. There just people.″

″Ah... that makes sense since you come from a culture of... wizards you say? Most fascinating.″ Kyubey turned his back on Maria and continued to sweep his tail about. ″I'd like to know more about this culture. Perhaps its similar to the neo-pagan movement that has been occurring.″ Turning back to Maria he nodded his head. ″So what do you think? Would you want to make a contract with me?″

″I don't think so...″ Maria piled her stuffed animals around her and shielded herself from Kyubey. ″I'm not good at fighting... I've never really done it before. And it sounds kind of dangerous.″

″Oh it is.″ Kyubey began scratching his ears and sighed. ″Can't say I'm surprised. When the dangers of the work are revealed there is bound to be some push back against it. But know, doing this won't only aid you, but others as well.″ Kyubey walked over to a dresser and jumped on top of it, keeping from knocking off any of the knickknacks that were on it. ″Just know this. I can grant any wish you want. Anything. You have but to ask me for it.″

″Anything...″ Maria sleepily looked down at her lion plush and hugged it. ″That is tempting...″

″Don't feel you need to answer now. Think about it. I'll stay in touch.″ Kyubey jumped off the dresser and walked out of the room. Before completely leaving he turned back to her and cocked his head. ″I wish you the best of luck with whatever your endeavors are.″ Then he vanished.


	3. A Week of No Magic

As Maria sat on the stoop of Ms. Gabbart's house, her eyes lazily watched as people passed her by. There were men in nice business suits and women in similarly nice business dresses, but there were also more casually dressed individuals who were just sauntering down the sidewalk. Sighing for the fourth time in a row, Maria laid back and looked up to the sky which was a slightly cloudy, with patches of blue sneaking its way in.

″You sure you don't want to try any games Maria?″ Ms. Gabbart walked up from behind and gave Maria a small blue handheld console. ″It has a sweet little game called Animal Crossing if you care to try it.″

″Maybe later.″ Maria said drowsily waving her hands about. ″I'm waiting to see if Kyubey comes by.″

″Again? Dear, whatever that thing is, it hasn't been around for over a week. You may want to try doing some other things besides lounging about my stoop.″ Ms. Gabbart gently pulled Maria up and rested her hands on her shoulders. ″At the very least you could go about and explore the area a bit. You know. Get familiar with this place.″

″Okay...″ Maria said despondently and let her head hang low. ″It's not like he's real anyway...″

Ms. Gabbart's eyes softened and she gently touched Maria's cheek. ″ I know not having magic is rather... disappointing, but you'll learn to make do like these fine people have.″ Ms. Gabbart pointed towards a teenager who was walking down the street while bobbing his head to the music his headphone were playing. ″Don't waste your life away over some dream you had when you first came here. Now shoo. You've been on this stoop so long you've started to sprout roots.″

Her eyes widening, Maria checked her rear then glared back at Ms. Gabbart. ″Was that just an expression?″

″Yes dear.″ Ms. Gabbart laughed and shooed her off. ″Now remember, don't talk about magic. Most people likely won't understand here.″ Ms. Gabbart waved at Maria as she sluggishly walked off the stoop and began her journey around the neighborhood.

She had gone down only three house before she looked back to see if Ms. Gabbart were still watching. Seeing that she was, Maria sighed and continued walking. ″Stupid cat rabbit... stupid magic... stupid squibness...″ Maria kicked at a piece of trash that was on the ground and watched as it flopped back down to the ground. ″Stupid trash...″

Walking further down the street Maria stopped and looked back to see Ms. Gabbart. She seemed to have gone inside to do something or other, leaving Maria to smile mischievously. Then, perhaps the least exciting mischief took place. Sitting herself down on the porch she was next to, Maria began looking around once more for Kyubey.

As she looked about, the door behind her opened up causing Maria to look back to see who it was. There was a tall, rather stout muscular man, who was wearing a white t-shirt. Looking down at Maria he crossed his arms and began to glare slightly. ″What are you doing on my porch?″

″Looking for Kyubey.″ Maria blurted out and went on looking duly about.

A portly looking boy looked around his father's legs and glared more menacingly at Maria. ″What's her problem dad?″

The man rolled his eyes and shooed his son back inside. ″Let _me _handle this. Go watch the tellie or something.″ Scoffing the little boy turned about face and disappeared into the house. Placing his hands on his hips now, the man looked back at Maria. ″Now what is a Kyubey? Your cat or something?″

″He looks like a cat, but he has bunny ears coming out of his normal cat ones.″ Maria nonchalantly stretched and yawned as the man behind her gave her a look of disgruntled confusion.

Scratching his head he sat down next to Maria and looked around. ″That sounds rather stupid.″

Maria snapped her head towards the man and glared back at him. ″Well I didn't ask your opinion on his appearance!″

The man flinched back, but then took on a bemused look and shrugged. ″Sorry.″

″It's okay... I'm not sure if he's real either.″ Maria sighed and rested her head in her hands.

″Where'd you see it?″ The man looked back at the door and saw his son peeping through. ″'Ey! Told you I'd take care of it!″ The boy's eyes widened and he quickly disappeared back into the house. ″Kids...″ Looking back to Maria he waited for her answer.

″I saw him on my first night here... he told me he could turn me into a witch.″ Maria sighed and looked up to the sky. ″Afraid that it was just a dream...″

The man froze up when Maria said this, flushing he began to laugh. ″So you wanna be a witch eh? That's an interesting goal for a little girl. Why would you want to be an ugly old hag?″

Maria's face turned red and her fists clenched. Before she knew what happened she snapped at the man.″My mother isn't ugly and neither is my sister!″

The man's laughter trailed off as Maria looked away from him. In a few moment Ms. Gabbart was beside the two of them and looking questioningly at Maria. ″I'm sorry, has she been bothering you?″

″Nah, just kids being kids.″ The man waved off the question and looked over at Ms. Gabbart. ″So uh... her family is made up of witches.″

Ms. Gabbart looked sardonically at Maria, then back to the man. ″I'm sorry Mr. Dursley. She's just been coming to terms with moving away from her family so...″

″Are you a...″ Mr. Dursley shook his head and looked away from Ms. Gabbart. ″N-never mind.″ Holding his face he stared out to the street dumbly.

Ms. Gabbart walked up to Maria and crossed her arms.

″What? ″ Maria was flushed and looking away from Ms. Gabbart's eyes. ″I-I just talked about my family? Nothing magic there?″ Ms. Gabbart raised an eyebrow making Maria shiver. ″Except the obvious I suppose...″

Ms. Gabbart rubbed the bridge of her nose and shook her head. ″Oh Maria...″

″Are you a witch too?″ Mr. Dursley looked over at Ms. Gabbart who flushed. ″I... no. No I'm not.″ Mr. Dursley pouted and looked back to the street. ″ Figures. Thought I'd only be seeing the magic stuff once every year or so...″

With a confused expression, Ms. Gabbart looked over Mr. Dursley. ″How do you know about magic and stuff?″

″My cousin.″ He said flatly. ″How do you know about it.″

Sighing, Ms. Gabbart grabbed Maria's hand and walked her away from the porch. ″I'd rather not discuss this.″

Mr. Dursley shook his head and headed back into the house. ″Did you let her have it dad?″ The little boy shouted as his dad began coming in. ″Shut up Archie!″ Mr. Dursley shouted as he slammed the door shut.


	4. The Contract Is Made

Maria walked down the street, twirling her umbrella as she went. Looking at the Dursley's house, she waved at a window where she saw Mrs. Dursley sitting. As her wave was returned, Maria smiled and continued down the wet street. As she got back to Ms. Gabbart's house she took out a key and began to unlock the door.

″Have you made up your mind yet?″

Maria let out a yelp and nearly dropped her keys. After she fumbled with them in the air, she looked back to see the white cat rabbit with its swishing tail. ″You... you are real?″ Maria looked anxiously to the door and opened it up. ″Well let's talk inside, no sense talking in the rain.″

″Quite kind of you.″ Kyubey made his way inside and shook the rain off his body.

As Maria hung up her umbrella on a hook, she looked down to Kyubey who was now staring intently at her. ″So... you can grant any wish?″

″Anything that you can think of.″ Kyubey tilted his head and raised a paw. ″Some others are limited to the kind of wishes they can have, but you seem to have a bit more potential than most girls. How curious.″ Kyubey began to walk down the hallway, leaving Maria to follow him. ″So, do you still want to have magic?″

″Yes. I do.″ Maria walked by the living room, where Ms. Gabbart was sleeping soundly as the daily news reported about the rain. Maria looked down to Kyubey who was still walking down the hall. ″It's dangerous though...″

″Not for you I should think.″ Kyubey opened her bedroom door and entered into it. ″With your potential you'll be defeating these witches... well... if you prefer we can call them monsters.″ Kyubey peeked out of the room and looked at Maria.

″That sounds fine.″ Maria entered the room too and sat on her bed. Kyubey situated himself in front of her and stared deeply into her eyes. Maria felt a chill run through her, it was like the creature was dissecting her every move. ″S-so... what do I have to do to make this wish?″

″Just agree to the contract, and you will have your heart's desire granted.″ Kyubey shut his eyes and looked over his shoulder. The sound of Ms. Gabbart's snoring trickling into the room. ″So...″ looking back to Maria he tilted his head. ″Will you become a magical girl in exchange for your wish?″

″Yes!″ Maria stood up from her bed, and knelt down in front of Kyubey. ″I wish for magical powers!″

″You wish for power itself?″ Kyubey's eyes flashed and he turned his head away as if to think. ″Strange... I never met someone with so much karmic destiny wrapped around them. What are you destined to do Maria Briar?″ Kyubey nodded his head and rested a paw on Maria's knee. ″Are you sure this is what you want? No going back once you've made the wish.″

″Yes. I want magical powers.″ Maria held her hands close to her chest and looked yearningly at Kyubey. ″You don't know what it was like growing up not showing any sign of magic. How they talked about how I was a squib and how much of a disappointment that was. How they just threw me out of their lives. Please! I want all the magic powers I can have!″

Kyubey long ears began to rise up, his fur seeming to stand on end. ″All the power you can muster? If that is your wish, then so be it.″ Kyubey's ears extended towards Maria's chest and she let out a loud scream.

Something seemed to be getting ripped out of her. Maria fell over as a blinding light came out of her chest. At the same time, as she fell over a warm feeling began to well up inside her chest, like something powerful was taking the place of whatever had been taken out. The room began to shake and stuffed animals began to fly around the room in a vortex. Small debris too began to fly all over the place. The bed too was beginning to shake, as if it was wanting to joing the stuffed animals in the vortex. Only Maria and Kyubey were stationary.

″Such power! You will become a truly powerful witch someday Maria. I'm sure of it!″ Kyubey stared at her and lowered his ears down.

A strange egg like gem descended from his ears and was placed in Maria's hands. Maria weakly gripped it and looked into its green glow. ″What is this?″

″Your soul gem. You must take extremely good care of it, it is now your whole life as a magical girl.″ Kyubey looked over his shoulders and saw Ms. Gabbart running in. ″I'll tell you more later.″

″Maria what is- oh my God!″ Ms. Gabbart stood back for a moment as she watched everything swirling around in the room. After the shock wore off, she ran in and grabbed Maria, not noticing the translucent creature that stood nearby. As she ran out of the room, the debris came crashing down, and now everything in the hall began to wobble about as if they were about to start spinning in a vortex as well. Looking down to Maria who was still holding her soul gem, Ms. Gabbart touched her face worriedly. ″Maria, what's happening?″

Maria smiled weakly up at Ms. Gabbart and held up her soul gem. ″I have magic now.″

Ms. Gabbart looked to Maria's hand but saw nothing but an empty palm. ″Maria... you're doing this?″

Maria looked around the hall and saw everything wobbling about as if in a strong wind. Closing her eyes she waved her hands and everything suddenly became still. Maria looked tiredly to Ms Gabbart, and as the two stared at each other a knock came at the door. Ms Gabbart looked up anxiously and slowly walked down the hall with Maria still in her arms. Once there, she struggled a bit to open the door and as soon as she did an old owl came flopping in. It landed on the ground and quickly took a letter off of its leg. It looked up to Ms. Gabbart then swiftly left the room.

Gently laying Maria down, Ms. Gabbart with shaky hands grabbed the letter and began to read it allowed. ″Dear Ms. Briar, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at...″ Ms Gabbart covered her mouth and looked over at Maria, who was smiling vacantly at Ms Gabbart. ″You're... going to Hogwarts.″

Ms. Gabbart let out a cry of joy and hugged Maria tightly, and as she did Kyubey exited Maria's room and looked over at the scene occurring before him. ″What is this Hogwarts … something to do with the witch world I'm sure...″ Looking down he nodded his head. ″A new area of investigation... perhaps this world can further help.″


	5. Kyubey and Magic

Excitedly following after Ms. Gabbart, Maria held a bag of galleons in her hands as she nearly skipped about on the sidewalk. Occasionally she would look over her shoulder to see Kyubey following from a distance, but she paid this little mind. She hadn't had to fight a witch yet and everything seemed to be going fine. Admitedly it had only been a day since she had gotten her powers though. Once they reached Charing Cross Road, Maria looked over at a run down looking pub with the name Leaky Cauldron on it.

Ms. Gabbart seemed to be uncertain of the way she was going, but stopped before passing the Leaky Cauldron when Maria stopped her. "This run down place is it then?" Ms. Gabbart looked the building up and down and shrugged. "Stay close dear..." Ms. Gabbart wrapped her arms around Maria and entered into the pub. This morning it was rather silent. Only a few people were around and they were mostly slouched over on the bar drinking. Maria looked over her shoulder and watched as Kyubey snuck his way into the building.

"This way Maria! I remember the rest of the way. Oh~ I never thought I'd be taking someone down here." Ms. Gabbart clapped her hands then bowed her head to the bartender, who raised an eyebrow at her. "Good morning sir." Ms. Gabbart grabbed Maria's hand and quickly brought her out back.

Maria held herself tightly as a cold draft came in and hit her. The courtyard out back was rather barren to the looks of it, with nothing but a brick wall in front of them. Ms. Gabbart though began to tap the wall counterclockwise and as she did she stood back and watched as the brick wall began to rearrange itself. Clapping her hands joyously, Ms. Gabbart looked at Maria and let out a cheer. "I can't wait to see how much the place has changed! It's been decades since I've been in here when my sister came to get her Hogwarts supplies!" As she looked to the alley that was opening up to her, Kyubey quickly ran in between her feet and disappeared into the alley.

Glaring at him, Maria crossed her arms and began to shake her head. "What's he up to?"

"What who's up to dear?" Ms. Gabbart looked back to Maria who shrugged.

"Kyubey." she nonchalantly as she entered into Diagon Alley.

"Oh... your little friend?" Ms. Gabbart looked curiously at Maria. "Um... speaking of little friends, perhaps you'd like to get a pet? An owl is always useful!"

As the two walked through the alley, Maria looked at all the witches and wizards that walked by her, all of them in varying colors of robes. Maria brought her hand to her chest as she watched one witch walk by with a beautiful green broach attached to her robe at the neck.

Maria took out her soul gem and then placed it against her own and as she did it changed into a broach. Smiling happily she looked up to Ms. Gabbart who sighed. "I'm sorry... I was... just really excited to see this place." Maria hugged Ms. Gabbart and looked over at a store called Second Hand Books. Maria let go of Ms. Gabbart and looked happily at her. "So what did you say?"

"Just if you want to get a pet or some such thing." Ms. Gabbart fixed her hair and looked over her shoulder at the Second Hand Book store. "I suppose we should get your books first."

Nodding Maria followed Ms Gabbart into the store. As she did though Maria discovered Kyubey running in after her. "Oh... hello again. What are you up to?"

"Tell me what you know about magic Maria." Kyubey tilted his head and stared deeply into her eyes. "I've been unable to properly observe the energy in this area. Something seems to be throwing my sensory abilities off... as well as others..." Kyubey looked over his shoulder and shivered.

"Are you okay? You seem kind of scared." Maria stroked Kyubey who brushed her hand away.

"No, that's not possible. I have no sense of fear. Its just a reaction to being disconnected to the others." Kyubey then walked further into the store with Maria, his head looking about swiftly. "I'm afraid that the magic or whatever this energy is in this area is messing with all of my abilities right-" Kyubey was then hit by a flying broom and sent flying out of the store.

"Get out of here, you rodent!" An old witch with a wart on her nose shook her fist at Kyubey who was quickly getting himself up and running away.

"Kyubey wait!" Maria then ran out after him, leaving Ms. Gabbart alone with the books.

"Kyubey... Maria?!" Ms. Gabbart turned about and discovered the little girl had disappeared. "Oh no! Maria where'd you go?!" Ms. Gabbart dropped a book that went flying back to its shelves.

Maria cut into an alley as she watched Kyubey running away, other passerbies actually seemed to take notice of him and avoided running into him. "Kyubey!" she shouted once more as she dived into the alley.

Kyubey stood at the far back, breathing heavily as he looked down to the ground. "I don't understand, they shouldn't have been able to see me. At least not that well! What is going on here?" Kyubey looked up to Maria who shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know much about your powers so I can't tell you much." Maria knelt down and stroked Kyubey's head. "Maybe you should stay with me for now."

Kyubey looked past Maria at the end of the alley and saw Ms. Gabbart shambling down towards them. "Perhaps that is a good tactic. But I should take on a form more familiar to the adults of this area. They know of cats here yes?"

"I should think so. They have a pet store." Maria looked over her shoulder and saw Ms. Gabbart rest a hand on Maria's shoulder. "Are you okay Ms. Gabbart?"

"Don't run off like that." Ms. Gabbart said tiredly leaning against Maria. "You don't mean to tell me you ran off just for this mangy thing?"

Maria looked back to Kyubey and in his place she saw a beautiful white feline with fluffy hair and deep copper colored eyes. Maria's mouth dropped as she reached out to the cat. "Kyubey?"

"Yes, its me." The cat tilted its head in the same way Kyubey had done. His tail began to swoosh about.

"This is Kyubey?" Ms. Gabbart let out a sigh of relief and wiped her forehead. "I thought it was... oh nevermind. Let's get back to the store..."

"What about Kyubey?" Maria asked as she picked him up.

"Well... bring him along I suppose. I don't know if the stores have a no pet rule though..." As the three made their way back to the Second Hand Book store, Maria looked down to Kyubey curiously.

"How'd you make yourself look like a regular cat?" Maria scratched behind Kyubey's ear and found him rubbing his head against her hand.

"Well, you didn't think the form I appeared to you before was my real one did you? My real form is beyond what normal humans would call cute, so I chose a more appealing form. Sadly it seems I have to go with a far more mundane appearance if my ability to cloak myself is being impeded. Along with other things..." Kyubey looked over at Ms Gabbart then the other wizards and witches surrounding him. "I must say... I don't recall feeling quite so... powerless."

"Aw, poor kitty." Maria said humorously before hugging him.

"You don't need to be so patronizing." Kyubey shook his body about to make Maria stop holding him so tightly.

"Sorry." Maria said teasingly as she poked the side of his face.

Once the books were achieved the two entered into the pet store next where they got a cage for Kyubey, who much to Ms. Gabbart's surprise, entered the cage without incident. After collecting more materials that would be needed to take care of a cat, Ms. Gabbart next took Maria to the second hand robe shop where they set to work finding a robe that would fit Maria. All the while Kyubey merely watched with an unwavering eye.

Exiting the second hand robe shop Maria and Ms. Gabbart decided to grab some lunch and headed over to a stout old vendor who was giving out roasted chestnuts. As Maria and Ms. Gabbart walked around eating their chestnuts, Maria caught site of a silvery haired girl who serenely walked by with what appeared to be a servant who held all her purchases with extreme care.

Kyubey looked about in the cage tilted his head. "Oh my, I didn't expect to see you here as well." The girl stopped and looked back at the cage.

Maria flushed and looked from the girl to Kyubey then to Ms. Gabbart who was still walking on forward. "Uh, can we talk later Kyubey?"

The girl looked suspiciously at Maria than clapped her hands. Her servant stopped and looked back to her. "Yes Ms. Wefan?" The man said in a rather aggravated tone, which was odd mixed with his rather composed face.

"I'd like to speak with this young witch if that is all right." She said defiantly looking away from him.

"You'll be late for your potion tutor." he turned about face and began to walk away. "Come along Ms. Wefan."

The silver haired girl pouted and crossed her arms. Ms Gabbart had realized what was going on and came back watching curiously as to what was going to happen next. "As the next in line for the Wefan name I-"

"Will have wasted your parents galleons if you do not come right away." The man said tauntingly.

The silver haired girl rolled her eyes and looked back to Maria. "We'll talk later. I'm sure that Kyubey will help us with that." The silver haired girl than walked off without another word.

"So who was that?" Ms. Gabbart asked placing a hand on Maria's shoulder.

"I don't know, but I know someone who does." Maria looked over to Kyubey who nodded his head.


	6. Cordelia, the Train Witch

The rain streamed down Maria's window as she breathed heavily on it. She rapped her fingers against the glass as she patiently waited in the darkness. It wasn't until she heard the soft snoring of Ms. Gabbart that she jumped out of bed. Kyubey remained in his cat form, but was quickly running over to the door and opening it. "She usually sleeps for a good six hours, so we should be able to meet up with Andromeda without trouble."

Maria placed her raincoat on and quickly tucked her hair away into her hood. "Andromeda Wefan... I don't know if I've heard that name before or not. I didn't pay too much attention when mom or dad were talking about who's family did what or who was related to who." Maria stuffed her wand in her pocket and placed her soul gem on her shirt once again as a broach.

"I'm sure she can fill you in on questions. Now let's go. I think tonight will be a good time for your first... monster hunt." Kyubey scurried down the hallway and waited patiently by the front door. Maria fumble with her keys a bit, but quickly unlocked the door and stepped out into the rain. Kyubey walked out into the rain with no trouble, not even blinking as the water drops hit his face.

The two swiftly made their way down the street and soon found themselves entering into territories that Maria had never known before. As they began to cross a rather busy street, Maria's soul gem began to glow more vibrantly than usual. Maria froze to a stop and looked nervously at it.

Kyubey looked back and cocked his head. "Hmm, perhaps now is as good a time as any to fight your first witch... I mean monster." Kyubey walked up to Maria and pointed up at her soul gem. "You can use your soul gem to locate these monsters. Just follow which ever way the gem glows the brightest."

Maria bit her lip and looked down at Kyube, her feet tottering about in the rain water. "M-maybe I can meet up with Andromeda first. It's better to fight these things with others isn't it?"

"Well, from a personal stand point not really. You see though fighting alone with a witch may be more dangerous, you also have no one to fight over for the spoils. They'll all be yours."

"Spoils? Like gold?" Maria tilted her head and squinted through the rain at Kyubey. "What are you talking about?"

"After defeating a witch, a thing called a grief seed comes out. You can use it to clean your soul gem and keep it safe. This is very important. If your soul gem goes dark that could spell the end of you." Kyubey pointed down an alley and nudged his head towards the darkness. "I think that the light is leading us down this way. Let's go."

Maria groaned, and held her soul gem tightly. "Do I really have too? I don't mind sharing with others."

"Sharing isn't a commodity when you're a magical girl." Kyubey than bounded down the alley, and looked back at Maria. His red eyes glowing in the darkness as they stared Maria down. "It's more economical."

Staring back at Kyubey, Maria felt a shiver run up her body. "I... guess I can try this out. You'll be there to help won't you?"

"I'm not built for battle. Sorry, but I can act as moral support if you need it." Kyubey than bounded further into the darkness leaving Maria to follow him.

"Good enough I guess..." Maria slowly began walking down the alley, and as she went her soul gem began to glow brighter.

Eventually Maria noticed that the rain seemed to have stopped, but as she look up she saw that there was a strange brick ceiling above her. There was German written all over the ceiling in red bricks, but Maria couldn't understand any of it. It read "Horen sie nicht auf ihr". Looking down to her feet she saw metal rails and gravel. Her eyes widened and she quickly looked up and saw that she had somehow walked into a train tunnel. There were lights by the side of the tunnel, and as Maria looked at them she heard a loud whistle.

Running off the tracks, Maria stared in horror as a dark red train came barreling down the track. Much to her horror, somehow the tracks began to move and she was once again on them. "What?!" Maria tried to run off the tracks again, but found that it kept following her.

"Maria! Use your soul gem! Transform!" Kyubey shouted as the train came closer and closer.

Grabbing her soul gem she ripped it off her chest and held it up in the air. "Transform!" she shouted anxiously. Suddenly she was enveloped in a green light and a long black gown formed on her, with green trimmings. It was of a velvety texture and billowed about in the wind. She wore a green bow around her chest and, as soon as she stopped gawking at her new dress, she let out a shriek as the train was almost on top of her. It had a menacing scull like face, with smoke pouring out of its mouth. It shrieked back at her and sent ember flying about the tunnel.

Jumping up in the air, Maria found herself able to hover above the train as it came screeching by her. As she watched it run by, she saw Kyubey sitting peacefully on it with his tail swishing about. Landing on top of its back Maria fell to her knees in front of Kyubey and clasped her hands together. "What do I do now?! I've never fought anything like this before!"

"Just feel it Maria. Think of a weapon and channel your power through it." Kyubey leaped away leaving Maria to meet face to face with an ax that had come crashing down at her.

Jumping back, Maria screamed and summoned a wand, which blasted at the ax's wielder, sending them flying off the train. To Maria's horror, faceless train conductors began to crawl on top of the train, all wielding an ax. They each came running at her, but with a blast from her wand she sent them sailing off the train. Maria began to run to the front of the train, blasting at it as she made her way up. Each magical blast left a dent in the train, and by the time she reached the front of it, the train seemed to be shrieking in pain.

Maria jumped up in the air, and came crashing down on the train's head. With a metallic crack, the train's head began to split. From the cracks in the train, more faceless conductors began to seep out. Maria quickly ran away from them, but found that the ones that she had left behind were still coming after her. "Kyubey!" Maria shouted, and found the fluffy creature casually walk by her.

"You're doing fine, I think you almost got her beat. Break through the hordes of familiars and blast at that crack you made." Kyubey scratched his head and then walked calmly through the hordes of faceless conductors.

Maria nodded and jumped forward, leaping over the hordes which began tossing their axes at her. Letting out a cry of pain Maria fell to the ground as some of the axes began to buffet her. Holding herself tightly she looked towards the crack in the trains head and quickly began running towards it, leaving a trail of blood behind her. Sliding through the conductors she forced her wand into the crack and let loose a huge blast. As the light from the blast dissipated she found herself in a regular alley, still holding herself tightly as she stared down at a black circular object that floated down in front of her.

"Not bad for a first attempt. Though you may want to heal yourself with your soul gem before Ms. Gabbart sees. I'm sure she'll become suspicious at seeing all those gashes on you." Kyubey than began to walk out of the alley and looked back at Maria. "I think we should still have time to meet Andromeda."

Maria stared, teary eyed at Kyubey, and grabbed the grief seed that was in front of her. Quietly nodding her head, she teetered her way to the exit of the alley. "I don't care what you say. I never want to fight one of those things alone again."

"It's your decision, though I find it to be a rather poor one. Over time I'm sure you'll get better at defeating witches."

Maria glared at Kyubey and poised her leg to kick him, but stopped herself. Taking a deep breath she held her soul gem over her wounds and began to heal them. With each healing, her soul gem grew darker. "Just shut up..."


	7. The Partnership

Andromeda Wefan sat calmly upon her balcony pouring out some tea into a white china cup. Looking up from her lacey white table she saw a white cat walking back and forth in front of the gate to her familie's territory. Smiling she fixed her night gown and headed out of her large bedroom to meet her new visitors. As she hurried down the stairs she walked past her parents bedroom which was slightly ajar, her father and mother were fast asleep leaning up against each other.

Entering into the front yard she walked by the sleeping topiaries, she actually reached out and petted the tiger one. Once at the gate she watched amusedly as Kyubey walked back and forth. With him was a girl about the same age as Andromeda, she looked rather pales and her eyes looked about anxiously. Tilting her head, Andromeda scratched her head as she watched the girl curiously. Opening the gate, the two figures out front jumped back and looked up at Andromeda.

"Well, nice of you two to finally arrive." Andromeda reached out her hand and found that the world outside her home was raining. "Hmm, come in. Please come in, out of the rain."

The girl walked into the front yard, and took down her hood. She looked up to the sky and smiled wryly as she saw that the sky here had not a trace of rain. "Wow, your parents must be pretty good to keep the rain out of here." Kyubey ran between the girls and shook himself dry. Soon after he froze and than shivered."You okay Kyubey?" Maria looked down at him and watched as he sat himself calmly down.

"Oh, I'm fine. Just a weird feedback is all. This place is filled with the same distortions that that Diagon Alley had."

Sighing, the girl looked to Andromeda and held out her hand. "I'm Maria by the way. Nice to meet you Andromeda."

"Charmed." Andromeda shook Maria's hand then motioned the two onto her house. "I have some tea prepared for you. We can talk in my room."

As the two passed the topiaries, Maria let out a pleasant sigh as she looked over the sleeping creatures. The elephant let out a soft whine then continued on sleeping. Clapping her hands, Maria ran up to Andromeda. "This is brilliant! I've never seen topiaries like this up close before. Only when me and my mom visited my gran, and they were far off in the backyard."

"Where do you live then? Close to the muggle world too I take it?" Andromeda walked up a flight of stairs and looked over her shoulder to Maria.

"Oh... I used to live in the countryside with my parents till..." Maria's face flushed and she cleared her throat. "Well that's not important now."

Andromeda raised an eyebrow, but didn't pursue the topic. Once they entered into Andromeda's room, Maria let out a gasp and walked in an awe. "Look at all this!" There were gigantic stuffed animals piled in a corner, teddie bears holding puppies, and there was a gigantic toy castle with little flying dragons around it. The canopy bed went all the way to the ceiling and looked like something out of a fairy tale for a princess who would fall asleep for a long time. Maria looked over at Andromeda who had walked out onto her balcony.

"Sorry if it seems a bit showy." Andromeda smiled and flipped her hair back, there was an air of pride in her tone. "Please, sit down." Maria quickly walked over to the table and sat herself down, Kyubey chose to sit on the table much to Andromeda's disgust. "Must you? There is a chair." Andromeda pointed at a seat next to Maria, which Kyubey sat down in. Only his eyes and ears could be seen from this angle.

Maria smirked and looked over at Andromeda. "So. Magical girls?"

Nodding her head, Andromeda took up a cup of tea. "Yes... well that we are. I mean, we are witches. We are after all magical inherently." Andromeda smiled weakly and ran a hand through her hair. "Um... so shall we make a pact or something?"

Maria began to beam, but before she could say anything Kyubey spoke up. "I'll tell you what I told Maria. It'll be easier for you to work alone rather then working together. It's your choice ultimately. I can see the benefits, but the fact that you both will have to fight over the grief seeds means someone will always be getting the shaft."

"Not if we share!" Maria snapped and thrusted a grief seed out to Andromeda who flinched away. "You take one, then I take one, and then so on. That seems fair?"

"I suppose so... I honestly haven't had too much luck fighting the monsters alone." Andromeda's shoulders slumped. "I... actually ran away from them." Andromeda turned red and looked away. "They were just so scary. I don't know if I can deal with them by myself."

"You don't have to. We magical girls have to stick together, no matter what some others say." Maria looked over at Kyubey who cocked his head.

"It's not the first time magical girls have partnered up, but I'm just saying-"

"You said enough about this." Maria looked stiffly away, and sighed. "So, what do you say Andromeda? Will we be partners?"

Andromeda looked at Maria's hand and nodded her head. Taking out her soul gem, which glowed with an eerie white light, she placed it on the table. "Right. I think I will."

Maria smiled and took out her soul gem. The two gems faced each other and Maria and Andromeda shook hands. "I hope that we can become friends too." Maria smiled and cocked her head.

"Friends are always welcome." As Andromeda and Maria shook hands, Kyubey began lapping up some tea.


	8. Traveling to Hogwarts

Maria wheeled her cart onto Platform Nine and Three Quaters, Ms. Gabbart following close behind with a bright look upon her face. "Did you ever see something so wonderful?" Ms. Gabbart clasped her hands around her face and looked excitedly at all the children running about the station. As she looked about her eyes froze upon someone in the midst of the crowd. Maria looked up at her and followed her gaze and her face went pale. There staring back at her was her mother, and sister who too looked rather pale. "Ah... Mrs. Kaberline. Good to see you again. I'm sure you've heard of the good news for Maria." Ms. Gabbart looked down at her and smirked at her.

Mrs. Kaberline nodded her head as she looked down at her daughter with tear filled eyes. "Its an absolute miracle!" She knelt down and tightly embraced Maria who looked dumbly about. "I'm sorry I haven't had the chance to chat with you for such a long time dear. We've been so busy getting Pallas ready for this year's term. But oh, this is such good news. Now you two can finally go to Hogwarts together."

Maria's eyes turned over to her sister who gave her a weak smile. "Well... let's get on to the train then shall we?" Pallas motioned towards the train and began to bring her own things over to the train. She grabbed her sister's hands and hurried off with her. As they got into the train, Pallas looked over her shoulder and waved to her mother before disappearing further in. "I'm sorry Maria..." Pallas entered one of the side compartments and sat herself down and dumped her things around the compartment. "I... I wish that mom didn't just dump you off with that old crone."

Maria pouted and brought herself into the compartment. "Ms. Gabbart isn't so bad, not nearly as bad as mom." Maria looked out the window and waved at her mother and Ms. Gabbart. "Just because I didn't have magic, she felt the need to disown me?"

Pallas looked down to her feet and held her hands together. "I... well... you know that mom was just thinking of how you'd feel if... she thought you'd be jealous of us using magic all the time around you and..."

Maria glared at her sister and scoffed. "Nice excuse... didn't even talk to me about it..." Maria looked out the window and watched as her mother began waving at her, but Maria looked away indignantly.

"You could at least be a bit civil to her." Pallas rolled her eyes and waved to her mother. "Out of the house for a few months and your still as bitter as ever."

"I'm not bitter! You keep saying that, but you guys treated me like the families dirty little secret!" Maria grabbed her things and scoffed. "I'm going to look for another compartment."

"Fine by me." Pallas looked away from Maria as she left, opening up one of her bags and taking out a book.

As Maria walked down the train, she looked down to her things and saw Kyubey still in his cage, looking up at her. "Not exactly a happy family reunion was it?"

"Shut up Kyubey." Maria spat and began looking in each of the compartments. As she found many of them were already filled up she began to look back over her shoulder to the compartment her sister was in. "It'd look bad if I go back huh?" Kyubey gave no response and just stared forward. Maria sighed and rubbed her nose. "Look, I'm sorry I shouted. I'm just really... upset about this."

"I suppose that's understandable. She did abandon you." Kyubey raised a paw and pointed towards a compartment. "Andromeda is in this one."

Maria stopped and looked inside and saw Andromeda sitting neatly with her things carefully stacked around her. "Andromeda!" Maria rushed in and hugged her.

"Oh! Maria, glad you could find my compartment." Patting the seat next to her, Andromeda ushered Maria to sit. "Isn't this exciting~ our first time heading to Hogwarts."

"I must say I'm fascinated too." Kyubey scratched his ears and looked up at Andromeda. "Hogwarts seems to be a prized location to you witches and wizards. Looking forward to studying it." Kyubey looked to the door and saw a young bleach blond boy quietly walk into the compartment.

"Mind if I sit here?" The boy inclined his head to the girls who nodded their heads.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Andromeda Wefan." She reached out her hand and shook the boy's hand.

"I'm Scorpius... M..." The boy flushed and scratched his head and looked away nervously. "I'm Scorpius."

"I'm Maria Kaberline. Pleasure." Maria inclined her head towards Scorpius, than looked down to Kyubey. "And this is my... cat. Kyubey."

"Charmed." Kyubey said and bowed.

"Only Andromeda and I can hear you right?" Maria looked anxiously at Kyubey who looked up at her.

"You could have just thought that. Now he'll think you're weird." Kyubey gave a sigh and shook his head. "Try to act like I'm just a cat."

"He... talks?" Scorpius looked over at Kyubey and raised an eyebrow. "What, is it some kind of charm?"

"Its a joke. Me and Maria like to pretend Kyubey can talk." Andromeda looked over at Maria and gave a smug grin.

"Yeah... okay." Scorpius sighed and sat up against the window.

Maria blushed and looked over to the compartment entrance. A few other children were coming in, amongst them was an older kid with glasses and light brown hair. He surveyed the group and his eyes squinted. "Lovely." He muttered. Rolling his eyes he sat himself down at the other end of the seats, away from Scorpius. "Stuck with first years again..."

The other two children that had come in sat themselves between Scorpius and the older kid. A dark haired girl with short hair smiled over at Andromeda and Maria. "Hi, I'm Greta."

"Hi, I'm Hans." The boy next to her smiled broadly and waved at the two girls. "What house are you hoping to get into?"

"Slytherin of course. That's where my family always goes." Andromeda stuck her nose up and smiled smugly. "What house do you two plan to go to?"

"Hufflepuff!" The two squealed. "Its a family thing with us too!"

Greta looked over to Maria and smiled sweetly. "What about you? What house you want to go to?"

"I... I don't know. My family is mostly Griffindors though." Maria then had a cringe and shivered. '_Stuck with Pallas for an entire school year... ugh...'_

"And what about you?" Hans quickly turned to Scorpius who frowned and looked out the window. "Aw... sorry..." The boy shrank back and looked repentant. "Did I say something wrong?"

"I wanna go to Griffindor." Scorpius said, holding his arms tightly.

"Cool!" Hans brightened right up and looked back to his sister, the two of them chattering on excitedly. The train suddenly began to move, and Maria found herself looking out the window, watching as the world passed her by.

"Finally headed to Hogwarts..." she said wistfully grabbing her soul gem tightly.

"That's a pretty gem." Greta leaned forward and began to ogle at it. "Can I take a close look at it."

Maria's face grimaced and she held the gem away. "I..."

"I wouldn't suggest it. That Soul Gem is very important. You should keep it on your person at all times." Kyubey laid himself down stared off at Greta with his usual emotionless stare.

"It's... very important to me. I'd rather hold onto it." Maria placed the gem into a pocket and sighed. '_I hope this isn't going to be an annoying ride...'_

"Oh, okay..." Greta sat back and sighed.

The compartment had become silent as the children all just stared at each other awkwardly. Eventually a cart with treats rolled by and Greta and Hans quickly made there way to it. "Ooo! We'd like some of those treats!" As they came back, their arms were filled to the brim with Cauldron Cakes, Every Flavor Jelly Beans, and Chocolate Frogs. As the two siblings sat down some of their candy began to fall out of the arms. "Ooops." Hans bent down to get his Cauldron Cakes, but ended up dropping all the rest of his candy and release his chocolate frogs causing them to bounce all around the compartment.

The glasses wearing kid's eyes began to twitch, and he snatched one of the frogs and tossed it at Hans. "You two are utterly infuriating! Can't you stop talking and messing up for an hour or two?!"

"There's no need to get so angry sir. We were just trying to be friendly." Greta stood up and came between her brother and the older kid.

"Save it." The older kid turned his back on the two siblings and glowered at the door to the compartment. "Can't believe there isn't another compartment I can hang in..."

"Why's that?" Maria blurted out as she swatted away a frog that landed on her forehead.

The older kid glared at her and his nostrils flared. "Why? I don't know! Maybe because everyone else is a moron who can't keep up with their studies and just can't-"

"Save it Sauvage." A boy about the same age as Sauvage peered into the compartment and scowled. "You're a git, that's why no one is letting you sit with them. "As obnoxious and loud as ever."

"Obnoxious?! These two are the obnoxious ones!" Sauvage pointed towards Greta and Hans who both looked on the verge of tears.

"Wow, can't try to be even a little civil Sauvage?" The kid leaned in and flicked his nose, to which Sauvage responded with taking out his wand.

"Do that again and I'll cast Langlock on you!" Sauvage pointed his wand at the other kid who backed off.

"Wow, cool it Sauvage! I'm going!" He quickly disappeared from the door and left Sauvage with just the first years.

Sauvage put his wand back and sighed. "Git..."

Maria and Andromeda looked at each other and held tightly onto their wands. "He's mad isn't he." Andromeda whispered. Sauvage glared over at her causing her to let out a squeak and hide behind some of her suitcases.

Looking down to Kyubey, Maria frowned. "So... do you have any pets?" Maria looked slowly up at Sauvage who scoffed. "Okay then." Maria looked back to Andromeda who was still hiding behind her suitcase. "This is going to be a long trip to Hogwarts..."


	9. Sorting Out Thoughts

As the train came to a stop, all the students began to climb on out. Sauvage quickly left the first years behind and disappeared into the crowd of children walking by them. Maria sighed and picked up her things and looked over at Andromeda who was nervously doing the same. Hans and Greta were holding each other's hands and quickly made their way out and left Maria and Andromeda alone with Scorpius who was staring vacantly out the window.

"You gonna get out Scorpius?" Maria asked as she headed towards the exit of the compartment.

"Nah... I'm... I'm just gonna stay here till the crowd dies down.

As the two girls headed out and came to a less crowded area Marie looked over at Andromeda and raised an eyebrow. "So... what do you think we should do about our monster hunting?"

"Can't we talk about that later?" Andromeda flushed and dropped some of her things. "W-we just got here at Hogwarts. Let's enjoy it."

"I guess..." Maria began to wheel her things further when Kyubey looked up at her.

"Actually, what you were thinking about was better for your well being. You can't ignore your witch... monster hunting duties for too long or your going to start having trouble with your soul gem."

"I know." Maria sighed and then grunted as she was jostled by all the students who were hurrying off the train. "I wonder if any of the monsters live near Hogwarts?" As Maria got off the train she looked off and saw a giant body of water with a large number of boats. All the first years were climbing their way to the boats, and there was one boat that was manned by a gigantic man with a grizzly beard and bushy hair.

"First years to me!" He bellowed as he ushered the children to him.

Maria looked over her shoulder and saw Andromeda following after her nervously. "It'll be okay Andromeda. As long as we're together the monsters won't be as hard."

"Right..." Andromeda grimaced and walked with Maria to one of the boats and found themselves joining up again with Scorpius who had come from right behind them. The children all remained silent as the boats departed and as they entered into Hagwarts, they were met with a balding fat man who was lining all the students up.

"Hurry now, must get yourselves prepared for the sorting." the man clapped his hands together and beamed down at the students. "Always exciting to have new students come to the school."

As they were walked off, they found themselves led to a gigantic hall with long tables filled with food, and the ceiling above showed off the night sky with glimmering stars above them. Maria's eyes wondered about as she came into the hall and found herself unable to look away. That was until a strange voice filled her ear. Looking down she saw an hold hat placed on a chair clearing its... throat?

""A new year of new fun

Come little ones, do not shun

For every year students say

The Slytherin house must pay

True dark wizards came from there

But its not just in the air

Griffindor too has dark ones

Ravenclaw too has a tons

The Hufflepuff though has none

But they have nasty things done

We are all the same, wizards

Don't fall for a lies blizzards

Slytherin is ambitious

Griffindor is truly brave

Ravenclaw is studious

Hufflepuff is Fair and Kind

We all have our finer points

We all have our duller points

In the end we work as one

So get out there and have fun"

The hat then grew silent, and the balding fat teacher ushered the students further. "Madeline Adler!" He called out, and a red haired girl ran forward and sat at the chair where the hat was placed upon her head. In a moment the hat shouted out "Ravenclaw!"

Maria stood anxiously waiting for her turn, and as she did the more she wondered about what house she should enter into. '_ I know that my family has been going to Griffindor for generations... but... do I have to go there?'_ Maria looked up and watched as her sister clapped at the Griffindor table where a new student came over. '_ They don't really care about me. Not until I had magic did they care, why should I just up and forgive them? Maybe I should go to...'_

"Maria Kaberline!" The teacher called. Maria's body froze up and she began to stare blankly forward. As she stood there the teacher walked up to her and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Dear... are you all right?"

Maria shivered and looked over at the hat with a look of horror. "Y-yeah." She then began to walk stiffly over to the hat, her footsteps echoing in her ears as she headed towards it. '_Where should I go? Not Griffindor...' _Sitting down, Maria took a deep breath and felt the weight of the hat press down upon her head.

"Hmmm... what's this?" The hat shifted about and hmm-ed to itself again. "You shouldn't be here should you?"

"What?!" Maria shouted and grabbed the hat tightly. "O-of course I am! I'm a witch!"

"Hmm... are you?" The hat shifted about on her head and laughed. "Well, well, well, someone made a strange deal... with an unknown creature. All this to have magic? All this... to show your family you are a worthy witch. A powerful witch. You didn't think this through entirely did you... now you must fight monsters to continue your wish's existence. You are willing to do much to get what you want... and your heart is torn away from your family..."

"Slytherin!" The hat shouted.

Maria's heart stopped and she looked over to the Slytherin table where students were smiling widely and clapping for her. She had joined Slytherin. The house that was the sworn rival of Griffindor. Maria looked over to her sister, and Pallas' face was completely pale. She stared Maria in the face, then turned away with a look of disgust.

"Maria, can you get up? We need to keep going." The teacher patted her back and shooed her down to her house.

As Maria sat down, she was met with a huge amount of applause, as all the other new Slytherins were met with. An older girl with braided hair walked up to Maria and patted her shoulder. "Welcome to the best house in Hogwarts."

Maria smiled weakly and nodded her head. "Yeah, I..." Maria wobbled over and held her head. "I don't feel to good."

"It'll be okay kid, just take a seat." The girl frowned and hurriedly moved Maria to an open seat where other students were watching intently as the next child was being sorted.

"Griffindor!" The hat shouted.

"Ugh..." A ginger haired wizard leaned back and stuck out his tongue. "Another high and mighty Griff..."

Maria smiled with trembling lips and looked over to Griffindor's table where her sister was still looking away from her. '_Well, at least me and Andromeda will be in the same house... hopefully.'_ Maria sat back and shivered as she watched the next students go up to be sorted. As time passed she eventually saw the familiar sight of Greta and Hans.

Greta went up excitedly and jumped into her seat, causing it to fly backwards a few inches. The teacher sighed exasperatedly and placed the hat upon her head. "Hufflepuff!"

Greta squeed with joy and ran over to her new house, where she was met with many claps and back patting. She looked over her shoulders to watch what would happen next to her brother, and much like her he went up excitedly. The teacher had his foot on the chair this time and kept it from sliding back this time. "Hufflepuff!" The boy screamed with joy and ran over to his sister who embraced him tightly as he came into the house table.

Maria smiled softly as she watched this and looked back to see the next student to be sorted. "Scorpius Malfoy!" Maria gasped and held her mouth as she looked over at Scorpius. He looked anxiously about as he walked forward and as he sat down in his seat he closed his eyes tightly as the hat was placed upon his head. There was silence for a few minutes, and Scorpius was looking more and more terrified as he sat there. Finally though the hat let out a shout. "Griffindor!"

What happened next was utterly baffling. Students from both Slytherin and Griffindor stood themselves up and started shouting at the teacher. A boy with messy hair slammed the Griffindor table and shook his head. "We're not taking a Malfoy into our house!"

The ginger next to Maria clenched his hands and stood up. "That can't be right at all. Malfoys have always been Slytherin!"

The teacher kept trying to regain order, but the students wouldn't stop shouting. That was until an older woman at the table in the back with other faculty members stood up and let out a loud "Stop!" Everyone grew silent, and began to slowly sit themselves down again. "This isn't up for you all to decide. The hat has sorted him, and he goes to Griffindor. And I expect him to be treated as a proper member of your house." The woman sat herself back down and readjusted her robe and glasses.

Everyone grew silent again and the sorting continued. There was a Potter boy who ended up going to Griffindor, but Maria couldn't stop watching how Scorpius was shrinking lower and lower in his seat as students began to inch away from him. Maria frowned and ran a hand through her hair. "Think he'll be okay over there? Malfoys were pretty involved in You Know Who's return to power..."

The ginger next to her shrugged and looked down to the table. "They're going to eat that kid alive..."

Maria grimaced, and looked back to Scorpius who had leaned himself into his table, burying his face into it and avoiding the nasty glances of the other Griffindors. As the sorting came to its end, Maria watched as Andromeda walked up as the last student and took her place at the sorting chair. In a moment she was sorted into Slytherin and quickly hurried over to Maria who she sat next to.

"What a way to start the year, huh?" Andromeda murmured as the chair and hat were taken away and the woman who had stood up earlier to stop the chaos stood up again and began some speech about the coming year. As the dinner was finally being served, Maria felt something bump up against her feet. She froze as she was eating her shepherds pie and looked under it to see a familiar fluffy cat.

"Kyubey, how long have you been there?!" Maria then flushed and looked over to see the ginger raise an eyebrow at her as she was looking under the table. He followed her gaze and saw Kyubey. He smiled and shook his head.

"How did this little guy get here?" He said reaching out and petting Kyubey's head.

"I'm just seeing how things are developing down here and what customs you witches participate in. Thus far it has been highly interesting..." Kyubey moved away from the ginger and walked down the underside of the table. "I just thought to check on you."

Maria pouted and sat back. "Sheesh..." rolling her eyes she looked to Andromeda who shrugged.

"Is he going to wandering all around the school now?" She asked as she grabbed a hand full of cookies.

"He what?" the ginger leaned forward and looked curiously at the two new Slytherins. "You may want to keep him in the dormitory, it can get kind of crazy around the school.

"Trust me, Kyubey is quite capable of taking care of himself." Maria sighed and looked under the table again to find that he had completely disappeared. As she looked back up she let out a scream as she was met with two deep black eyes. Maria fell out of her seat and quivered in fear as she stared at the gaunt face that peered at her.''

"Interesting..." The ghost turned towards Andromeda who too let out a scream and hid herself behind her dinner plate. He rubbed his chin and pointed his finger at the soul gem that Maria had placed on her chest. "There is something... familiar about this..."

"Baron! Would you leave these two alone, at least stop getting right in their faces." The girl with braided hair walked up to him and began to shoo him away. "Seriously... Sorry about that kids. My name is Bridget by the way." Bridget bowed to Maria and Andromeda then placed her hands on the ginger's back. "This is Stephan. He's a bit of an git, but you know... he's fun to have around."

"Ha ha, thanks for that." Stephan pushed Bridget away and went on eating his potatoes.

Maria smiled softly at the others then looked down at her soul gem, which had darkened slightly. Frowning, she let it go and looked back and forth at her happily chatting Slytherins. Looking back down to her feet she sighed. '_Guess I need to find more monsters soon..._'


	10. Into the Woods

Maria stood in front of a stone wall and watched as Stephan cleared his throat and folded his arms behind his back. "Griffindor." he said in a disgusted tone. As he said this the wall slid open to reveal a grand looking common room, with a cold air to it. As the first years funneled in past Stephan, Maria grabbed Andromeda's hand and took her to a corner away from all the other students. "Should we head out into those woods on the outskirts of the school? A monster might be living somewhere out there-"

Andromeda gasped and shook her head. "No! No, no, no! McGonagall said that we aren't allowed back there! Weren't you paying attention to what she was saying?"

Maria stared blankly at Andromeda and bit her lower lip.

"Oh." Andromeda rubbed the back of her head and sighed. "Well... we aren't supposed to go into the woods. They are dangerous."

"So are the monsters we're hunting!" Maria groaned and grabbed her face. "Andromeda, we need to get those Grief Seeds before our Soul Gems get too dark. Something bad will happen."

"I know... but can't we just enjoy ourselves a little longer?" Andromeda smiled widely and leaned toward Maria. "I want to make friends here while I can." Upon saying this, Andromeda ran over to some first years who were sitting on dark green buttoned leather sofas.

Maria scoffed and leaned against the wall. As she glared at Andromeda she felt something rub against her leg. Looking down she saw Kyubey who was staring right up at her. "You know, she's probably going to drag her feet the whole time. Andromeda doesn't seem to be the sort that would do the hunting without it being a dire need."

"Perhaps..." Maria looked over at Andromeda and picked up Kyubey. "Should I wait till everyone is asleep?"

"That seems to be a good strategy." Kyubey tilted his head as a young dark haired boy walked up to Maria.

"You've been standing here by yourself for a while, would you like to hang with some of us? We're playing wizard chess."

Maria smiled and nodded her head. "Sure... that'd be nice."

As bedtime arrived, Maria and Andromeda took a room with two other girls, one was a bushy haired girl with round glasses, and another girl with pigtails. Maria and Andromeda set their beds together and as they got dressed, Maria looked at her Soul Gem and turned it towards the forest where it shined faintly. Her eye trailed over to the other two girls and watched as they talk energetically with each other. Sighing she pulled her curtains and began to dress into her night clothes.

Kyubey jumped onto the bed and walked up to Maria. "It's been a while since you've gotten that gem and not once have you used a Grief Seed yet. You'll definitely need to get one tonight."

"Does the wish just break if the Soul Gem goes completely dark? I don't really know exactly what will happen if it were to go all dark." Maria waited for a response, but was met with silence from Kyubey. "Sheesh... as useful as ever." Maria finished putting on her clothes and opened her curtains to see Andromeda laying in bed preparing to sleep. Maria looked over to the other girls and saw them still talking. Grimacing, Maria pulled back her curtains and sat down on the bed.

"Well... something bad will happen if you don't purify your soul gem." Kyubey finally said, his tail twitching slightly.

"But what exactly will happen?" Maria tilted her head and watched as Kyubey grew silent again. "Its... worse then just my wish breaking isn't it?"

"You'll basically die." Kyubey finally said.

Maria took a deep breath and covered her face with her pillow. "Why didn't you tell me that was the cost of my wish?"

"Would that have changed your mind?" Kyubey raised a paw in question and tilted his head.

"Well... I suppose not. I might have been a bit more uneasy about making the contract with you though..." Maria sighed and fell onto her back. "Was I an idiot for doing this? Is magic really worth a time limit on my life that I need to reset every once in a while?"

"Most girls don't really think that much about it. Not sure why you're so thoughtful about this." Kyubey walked up to Maria's side and laid down.

"Maybe if you were more up front about the detail of the contract this wouldn't be happening!" Maria grabbed her pillow and punted Kyubey off the bed. In a moment Andromeda let out a scream. "Sorry." Maria winced and hid under her covers as Andromeda peered inside.

"Why'd you throw Kyubey at me?" she muttered as she rubbed her head.

"We were getting in an argument..." Maria looked past Andromeda to the other girls who were now asleep. "Our contract has the condition that if we don't keep our Soul Gem pure we'll die."

As soon as she said this, Maria was met with Andromeda letting out a weeping sound as she fell to her knees. "I don't want to die!" She cried. "I thought my wish would have just been undone!" Maria held Andromeda's shoulders as she began to sob, Kyubey seemed to have disappeared from the room.

"Now its all the more important we go hunting for monsters. Andromeda, we need to go look into the woods. My Soul Gem is already fairly dark." As she said this, Andromeda wrapped her arms around Maria.

"I don't want you to die either!" Andromeda cried. "But I'm scared to go out there... can't you do it-"

Maria gave a severely dirty look at Andromeda which silenced her. "I gave you your first Grief Seed! I could have used it for myself, but I gave it to you for our pact as partners. Don't skip out on this just cause your afraid."

Andromeda sniffled and let out one last whine. "Fine, let's get this over with."

The two girls snuck down into the Common Room where there were a few older students still up chatting or reading. "Why are they still up? It's pretty late." Maria took a deep breath and quickly hid behind a sofa. Andromeda right behind her, as Maria held her hand tightly. The two inched by and looked for an opening to sneak out further. As they were looking for an opening, Kyubey suddenly bound in and swiped at some of the older students.

"You mangy thing!" A big brutish looking boy got up and chased after Kyubey, while a younger boy chased him.

"No! Don't hurt him!"

As the Common Room grew silent, Maria quickly ran to the exit and slipped through with Andromeda. "Kyubey was really helpful wasn't he?" Andromeda smiled as she looked over her shoulder at their entrance to the Common Room.

Maria rolled her eyes, but stayed silent. As the two snuck through the school they kept hiding behind statues or drapes whenever a teacher would walk by. Eventually the two got to the exit into the grounds outside of the school building and the two made a mad dash towards the forest. As they got closer the brighter Maria's Soul Gem became, as did Andromeda's. The further into the woods they got, the more Andromeda's footsteps became sluggish. It eventually came to the point she wasn't moving at all, and Maria had to look back at her to see a quivering girl in the moonlight. "It'll be okay, we've got each other." Maria said, patting Andromeda's shoulder.

"Why aren't you afraid?" Andromeda asked as she wiped her eyes. 

Maria grew silent and scratched her head. Looking to her Soul Gem she looked about into which direction it shined the brightest. As she found it, she walked further, holding on to Andromeda. "Well... I know what to expect with this... and I... I'm kind of afraid my Soul Gem will go dark so I know I need to find a monster and beat it."

Andromeda nodded her head, and took a deep breath. "Okay... this is for so you don't die. I gotta be brave." Andromeda kept repeating those words as she walked further into the woods, until they came upon a door way that shined green and white. It had a strange pumpkin like shape at the top of the door for decoration, and the door itself had no handles. "What is... that?"

"I think... It's what we're looking for." Maria reached out for it, and the two girls were entangled in tendrils with leaves which whisked them away into the door. Then there was nothing but the door in the woods and a few sparkles drifting about in the air.


	11. Elanor, the Pumpkin Witch

Maria and Andromeda struggled about in the tendrils' embrace as they were ripped farther and farther inside of the labyrinth. Maria grabbed her Soul Gem and transformed into her fighting outfit. Summoning her wand she let loose a ray of energy that obliterated the tendrils around her, and as they faded away, they were replaced with a loud inhuman scream. Maria tumbled to the ground and found herself amongst pumpkins and leaves that sparkled. Looking up she watched as Andromeda was being pulled further into the monster's domain. Taking her wand out once more she let loose a blast and freed her from her imprisonment.

Maria ran over to Andromeda and helped her up, the girl was crying as she held her bruised arm. "What is this place?" Andromeda sniffled and looked up to the dusk sky above and saw glittering embers swimming about above. "Is this where the monster lives?"

"It is." Maria looked over her shoulder and saw a familiar cat bunny creature coming after her. "So... witches can come into the magic world? Fascinating." Kyubey romped through the pumpkin field till he got up to Maria, and looked up at her with his swishing tail brushing away some leaves. "You know, I have a theory on why there is a witch here."

"Monster." Maria corrected as she looked nervously over her shoulder. "And where is it anyway..."

"Oh, she might be analyzing the situation to see the best way to dispatch you both. You may want to hurry and find her." Kyubey than ran off ahead and disappeared into the leaves.

"Isn't he going to help us?" Andromeda asked as she transformed into her own fighting outfit.

"What's he going to do? Stare at the monster till it passes out?" Maria clenched her wand tightly in her hand and began trudging through the field. "This isn't anything like the last monster I fought..."

"What was it like... when you fought it?" As Andromeda said this the ground around them began to rumble and the pumpkins began to rise in the air, underneath them were scarecrow like bodies with scythes in their hands. They turned to the girls and swiftly began swiping at them.

Maria pushed Andromeda over before she got her head hacked off, and then grabbed her hand and dragged her as fast as she could away from the strange pumpkin men. "Try and fight back Andromeda! What do you have as a weapon?" Andromeda released her hand from Maria and looked down at her hands, which were covered in white gloves with a web pattern. Looking back at the approaching pumpkin men Andromeda's knees began to buckle, but she put her hands on the ground and in an instant silvery threads sprouted forth from her hand which entangled the pumpkin men.

Looking back and Maria, Andromeda smiled. "I-I can do something to help!"

Maria smiled back at Andromeda and took out her wand and pointed them at the pumpkin men. "Duck." She said as fire emitted from her wand torching all the pumpkins.

Andromeda a let out a scream as Maria destroyed the entangled pumpkin men, and as they turned to ash the two girls were horrified to find that strange button eyed mice began running out of the leaves and coming towards them.

"Argh! No!" Andromeda held out her hand and silvery threads came out again, but this time the mice climbed onto them and began crawling towards Andromeda who disconnected herself from her threads and ran behind Maria. "Hurry! Torch them!"

Andromeda aimed her wand at them and as she did she was met with a cloud of mice leaping towards her face and beginning to scratch at her. Screaming Maria dropped her wand and began ripping the mice off her face. "Help!" she screamed, and as she did Andromeda quickly began ripping off the mice, but before long they began crawling all over her causing her to fall to the ground in a panic.

Kyubey sat off in the distance and tilted his head as he watched the two girls being overrun by the mice. In a sudden flash of light Maria let out an enraged shout and blasted the mice off her, her soul gem growing darker as she did so. "Get away from me!" Maria grabbed her wand and shook the mice off and quickly ran over to Andromeda who was writhing on the ground. "Don't worry! I got them!" In another blast of light Maria sent the mice flying away. The two girls grabbed each others hands and quickly began to run away from the mice that were coming back after them.

"Where is the monster that controls these things?!" Maria shouted as she looked around the place.

"Perhaps she's still in hiding?" Andromeda said as she wiped blood off her face. Her face cringed and she made a gagging sound.

"It'll be all right Andromeda! As long as we're together we can do it." Maria then let out a yelp as more mice jumped onto the back of her head.

"How can we stop them, they won't stop coming at us!" Andromeda summoned her silvery threads and began picking the mice off of Maria as she blasted them away.

"I don't know but... what?!" Maria flinched back, and Andromeda followed her gaze to see the mice just standing and glaring at her. The field began to shake and a fissure opened up to reveal a golden road emerging further, and on it where four silver stallions carrying a carriage that was like a gigantic golden pumpkin. The mice parted ways, and as they did, the doors on the pumpkin carriage opened up and out came the tendrils that had captured the girls to begin with.

"I think we found the monster..." Maria blasted fire at the tendrils and again the monster let out an inhuman scream. Andromeda shot out her silvery threads and gunked up the wheels caused the carriage to topple over.

Before either of them could do anything further, the stallions were set free, and with the mice they came at the girls. Maria dodged the horses, but the mice were again all over her. "All I know how to do is shoot energy at them!" She shouted as she sent out fire again. "Do you know a spell that could stop them?!" Maria fell backwards and started kicking the mice away, not noticing the horses coming back at her.

Andromeda covered her mouth and quickly dragged Maria out of the way, but as she did Maria's foot got caught under the horse's hooves causing her to scream far more loudly then ever before. "Oh no!" Andromeda grasped her head and watched in horror as the carriage got itself back up and began to crawl its way towards them, a slithering sound echoing throughout the whole domain.

Grabbing Maria's wand she pointed it at the horses first and shouted "Stupefy!" Two of them fell over, and caused the other two to trip on them. As they began to stuggle to get back up Andromeda looked down to Maria who was sobbing as she held her broken feet. Andromeda looked back to the monster Carriage and shouted once more "Stupefy!" Too Andromeda's horror the spell bounced off the carriage and only caused it to stagger for a moment. "We're going to die!" She shouted as the mice began to envelope them again.

"Such a sad fate... and I was expecting so much more from you Maria." Kyubey turned his back and began to walk away. As Maria watched him turn away her eyes became focused with rage, and she grabbed her wand and pointed it at Kyubey. "Stupefy!" she shouted and sent the rabbit cat thing flying through the air. As this happened the two girls became overcome by the monster which pounded them into the ground with its tendrils. It raised its body over them and brought it down at bone breaking speeds.

Andromeda let out a scream and held up her hands sending the silver threads up and slowing the carriage down before it could crush them. "Maria! What do we do!" she cried as her arms began to weaken from the weight of the carriage. The mice began eating away at the threads, and Andromeda began to sob even more. "No! Go away you nasty little vermin!"

Maria, looked up at the carriage looming over her and grabbed her soul gem. "I'm not going to die, not tonight!" Thrusting her hand forward a beam of energy came from her soul gem and pierced through the carriage. It winced and then began to fall over, the world around them fading away. As it fell with a loud crunch, Maria quickly grabbed her foot and held her soul gem over it. She let out a grunt of pain, but in the next moment her foot was reset and she got up to her feet. The two girls found themselves in the woods once more, and before them the monster transformed into a grief seed. Maria snatched it and held it up against her soul gem which was a sickly green now. As she held it, the darkness in her gem left it and moved over to the grief seed.

Andromeda wiped her eyes of tears and got back up, wiping away the remnants of the mice that had surrounded her mere moments before. "I don't want to do that ever again."

"We'll have to... and next time hopefully what we learn at Hogwarts will help us fight them off better... where'd you learn that spell? Stupefy, right?" Maria put the grief seed in her pocket and looked over at the unmoving body of Kyubey.

"My dad uses it in some duels he has from time to time... I know a few other dueling spells, though that was the first time I ever used it." Andromeda, held herself tightly and leaned into Maria. "Can we go back to our rooms now? I... I want to go to bed..."

"Might want to heal those wounds you got first." Maria pointed at the scratches on Andromeda who shook her head.

"I don't care... I'm tired... I want to go to bed." Andromeda then hugged Maria tightly and began to cry. "I'm tired, and I want to go back to Hogwarts! Before more monsters attack us."

Maria rubbed Andromeda's back and helped her through the woods back. "It'll be okay Andromeda... shh... it'll be fine..." Maria looked over her shoulder at Kyubey and scowled. " He doesn't care if we live or die... does he?"

Andromeda shook her head and wiped her eyes again.

As the two got to the end of the woods, they froze upon seeing a lantern light moving about. "'eh!" said a somewhat familiar voice. As the lantern got closer to them the girls were met with a giant man towering over them. "What in the world are you two first years doing out so late!" the man shook his head and looked back over his shoulder. "You... need to get back to the school before anyone notices ya been missing." Looking back at them he let out a gasp and touched Andromeda's face. "What happened! What attacked you?!"

"A mons-" Andromeda stopped herself and looked at Maria. "A... mon..."

"A monster? What it look like? Come on you two. Got to get you to the hospital wing." The man turned about and looked towards the school.

"No!" Maria brought her soul gem up to Andromeda's face and healed it. "There is nothing wrong that won't heal with a little bit of time."

When the man looked back at them, he gawked at Andromeda upon seeing her face healed. "Wha?"

Andromeda frowned and shook her head. "I'll... be fine."

The man looked her over, then looked at Maria. "What have you two been up too... it's only your first night here?"

"We..." Maria flushed and looked over her shoulder and saw a limping Kyubey coming their way. "We went out looking for my cat. He got out of the school, and ran into the forest."

"Your cat?" the man looked past them and saw Kyubey and ran in after him. "Oh! The poor thing!" he cradled it in his arms and brought it back out with him. "Do you know what happened to him?"

"We're not sure." Maria continued. "We found him like that, and when we tried to pick him up he wouldn't let us."

"Well don't feel too bad. I have a way with animals." the man smiled down at the girls and motioned for them to follow him. "I'm Hagrid, nice to meet ya both."

"The pleasure is ours." Maria said as she walked with Andromeda after Hagrid and Kyubey. '_As much as I hate him... at least he gave us a reasonable excuse for being out...'_

After the two got to Hagrid's cottage the two were met with a warm fire and a somewhat messy home. As the two sat down, Hagrid went to work helping Kyubey. "Poor thing seems to have been hit by a spell. A rather powerful one too from the looks of it." He looked up to the girls as he stroked Kyubey and shook his head. "He may have to stay here for a while as I look after him. That okay with you two?"

"It is, as long as you can get him better." Maria looked at Andromeda who grimaced.

"Welp, you got your cat back. Time to get you two back to the school. Now, no more late night adventuring, you here?" Hagrid gave a deep laugh as he got up and began to walk them away. Maria looked over her shoulder at Kyubey and watched as he turned his head weakly at her.

"Perhaps there is more potential in you then I thought..." he said weakly before resting his head down again.


	12. First Day of Class

"For the first spell that I'm going to teach you all, we're going to try for the Levitation charm." Smiling broadly Flitwick motioned the first years to their books. "Now open up to the levitation spell and we can begin practicing." He picked up a feather from one of the students tables and twisted it about in his hands. "We'll be using feathers since you've never done this before, and I suggest you keep this spell's usage in class until you get the hang of it.

Maria opened her book up to the spell and began reading about it. "The Levitation Charm is one of the first spells learnt by any young witch or wizard. With the charm a witch or wizard can make things fly with the flick of a wand. The charm is an excellent test of your magical skills, wand control and above all, patience." Sighing, Maria looked over at Andromeda who was buried deep in her school book. Her posture was rigid, and her eyes seemed red. Maria bit her lower lip and reached out towards her. "Are you gonna be okay?"

Andromeda shrugged and kept her eyes on the book. Maria sighed and looked back to her book. After a few moments, she turned to look at the students to her right and saw Scorpius and a stringy haired girl next to him. He was sitting in a similar way as Andromeda, and Maria found herself reaching out to him. He let out a gasp as she touched him, and turned to her in shock. "Maria? What is it?"

"Are you okay?" before she could continue, Flitwick raised a finger to his lips and hushed her. He walked over and as he did he took notice of Andromeda and Scorpius' current state. "Children... is there something the matter?" His eyes softened and he placed a hand on Scorpius' back.

"Nothing!" Scorpius blurted out. As he did everyone in the room turned to him and some Griffindors began to snicker. He grew gloomier and sunk down into his seat.

"And you Ms. Wefan?" Flitwick asked with his hands clasped together. Andromeda looked down to her book and began to shiver. "Ms. Wefan?"

"It's... nothing." she said with some difficulty. Her voice shaking with the stress of holding back tears.

Flitwick looked back and forth between the two students and nodded his head. "I see... nothing eh?" Flitwick patted Scorpius' shoulder and leaned in towards him. "Would you and," looking over to Andromeda he bowed his head to her. "Ms. Wefan come and see me after class?"

Scorpius took a deep breath and sighed. "Yes sir."

"All right." Andromeda shut her book and held her face. "Pixie dust..." she mumbled.

Flitwick head back to the front of the class and continued his instructions to everyone. As the students got ready for practicing the levitation charm, Maria took out her wand and looked warily at it. Moving it about a bit in her hands she sighed and pointed her wand at the feather. "_Wingardium Leviosa." _As soon as she said this and waved her wand, her feather flew up into the air and began to dance about as she moved it. Boredly Maria moved it about, and she looked over at Andromeda who was doing the same, but with a more blank look on her face. Maria then looked over to the other students and her bored face began to give way to one of confusion. All the students were saying the words and swaying their wands, but their feathers were not moving as freely as Maria's and Andromeda's.

Flitwick took off his glasses and walked over to the two girls and clapped his hands together. "Looks like you two are quite natural at this! Keep up the good work and you'll hopefully be able to get all the other spells I'll be teaching. Ten points to Slytherin." Upon hearing this the Griffindors all began to moan and slump back in their chairs.

Maria smiled at Andromeda, who returned her smile with a weak grin. As class ended, Maria headed off to her next class while Andromeda and Scorpius stayed behind for a moment to talk with Flitwick.

As Maria left the class room she almost tripped and dropped her things as Kyubey ran off down the hall, making some other students laugh at seeing him running from his crime scene. "Kyubey..." Maria muttered and picked back up her things.

As she got her things back up she looked over her shoulder and saw Scorpius and Andromeda leaving the class room. "So what was that about?" Maria asked as she hugged her transfiguration book.

"We... well we were just explaining what's going on with us." Scorpius rubbed his eyes and sighed. "Mind if I hang with you guys on our way to transfiguration class? Once there I'll be sitting with some other Griffindors."

"Sure." Maria smiled warmly and patted Scorpius' back. "How has Griffindor been treating ya anyway?"

"Not well." Scorpius said, cracking a smile. He shrugged and rubbed his eyes again.

"What about you Andromeda?" Maria looked to her and watched as she just shrugged, rubbing her arms.

"I told him I was just homesick..." she muttered flatly as she stared off blankly.

Maria frowned and held Andromeda's hand. "We can talk about it later..." Andromeda nodded her head and tightly gripped Maria's hand.

"You two were pretty good at the levitation charm. Took me a while before I could even get it fluttering off the desk." Scorpius headed up some stairs with the girls and clapped his hands together. "You must have been practicing non stop before you got here!"

Maria's eyes widened and she looked at Andromeda who did the same. "Uh... actually that was the first time I've ever attempted it."

"Really? Wow! You two are real naturals." Scorpius took out his transfiguration book and began looking through it. "What do you suppose we'll do first?"

"I don't know... I hear transfiguration can be pretty hard." Maria opened her own book and turned it to a page about turning a desk into a raven. "Raven into desk?"

"That seems a bit advanced." Andromeda said as she scratched her head. "Probably something simple like a match to a needle."

As the three funneled into their classroom, Scorpius began to leave the two and headed over to some other Griffindors. As he did though, some of them just glared at him making him try and find another partner to stay with. "You can sit with us you know." Maria ran up to him and held his hand.

"Yeah, stay with your own kind Slytherin." said a brown haired boy who snickered with a blonde girl next to him.

"Was that supposed to be a joke? Or are you just... never mind." Maria rolled her eyes and looked to Scorpius who shook his head.

"No, I need to stay with my own house... even if a lot of them don't like me. Things won't change if I run away from it." Scorpius looked over at a free seat and quickly took it before he could be stopped.

Maria looked to Andromeda who shrugged and got themselves seated. A young woman with messy hair entered into the room with an arm full of papers and books. She had round glasses, and rings on all her fingers. "Hello class, I'm Ms. Wolf." She dropped her load onto her desk and put her hands on her hips. "So? We ready to transform things?!" Everyone began cheering as she took out her wand and transformed one of her books into a dove. "Cool right? I'm hoping that all of you will be able to do stuff like this!" Ms. Wolf pointed her wand at another book and changed it into a rabbit. "But, as this is the first day of class we're gonna go over the basics." With a flick of her wrist she turned the rabbit and dove back into books. Everyone groaned as she began writing down the transfiguration alphabet. "I know... we want to use magic as soon as possible, but we got to understand basics of transfiguration before we start shooting off magic. Transfiguration is pretty complicated and can lead to some unfortunate issues if not done properly."

As Maria copied down the alphabet on her parchment she felt something rub against her legs. "No..." she murmured. Looking under her desk she saw Kyubey sitting in between her feet, twitching his tail back and forth. "What are you doing here?" she hissed.

"Learning magic of course." Kyubey said, tilting his head towards her. "Want me to find another place to listen?"

"If you don't mind." Maria looked back up and realized she missed some of Ms. Wolf's lecture. "Geeze..." Looking over at Andromeda's notes, Maria began to copy down what she missed. As the class came to an end, the two girls walked up to Scorpius who was smiling.

"That was a rather interesting class wasn't it?" he said as he shoved his papers into his bag.

"I suppose so. Would have liked to transfigure something though..." Andromeda rubbed her head and sighed. "I knew we weren't gonna do anything big, but we didn't even get to try changing sugar to dust." sighing, Andromeda leaned back and groaned. "Oh well..." As she said this, Kyubey ran between her feet and disappeared out of the class room.

"What was that?" Scorpius looked in the direction of whatever it was that had run by and the two girls just looked at each other tiredly.

"An annoyance." Maria crossed her arms and shook her head. "Maybe I should lock him in my room..."

"Was that your cat then?" Scorpius smiled and patted her shoulder. "I've never seen a pet so determined to stay with their owner."

"He's more interested in learning what he can I'm sure." Maria muttered and flung her book bag over her shoulder. "Next class I guess... we got Herbology with Hufflepuff."

"Hope it goes well for you." Scorpius waved to Maria and walked off, leaving Maria and Andromeda alone in the class room.

"So, was it about the fight last night?" Maria looked warily at Andromeda who nodded her head. "Thought so... I know its hard but maybe we can-"

"I know I have to get these Grief Seeds, I just..." Andromeda sighed and held her forehead. "I just think I'm going to try and avoid these monsters as much as I can. That... really wasn't something I wanted to deal with going to school here. It should be a pleasant time going to Hogwarts, not a constant chance of death."

Maria smirked and nodded. "Yeah, I suppose your right... but what can we do?"

"Just bare it I suppose..." Andromeda sighed and tightly held onto her books. "Lets head to class."

"Okay." The two girls held each other's hands and head off.

Kyubey however watched as they disappeared down the hall. '_This place is truly proving to be very interesting. I've never seen so much magic stockpiled in one place before. When I can, I need to tell everyone about this place. Such potential we can get out of it.'_ Walking down the hall the opposite way he scratched his head. '_It's nice that I know what happened to those missing magical girls now. They must have been _witches _and we just didn't find out about them. They came here, turned into real witches and began wondering around as they tend to. I wonder how many witches are here though? Not too many I should think. Maria and Andromeda are going to have to head out further then the forest soon if they want to keep their Soul Gems pure.'_


End file.
